Radio London Since September 27, 1938, the British BBC radio began airing a series of programs under the name Radio London. The programs were aimed at the continental European populations. The Italian-language broadcasts of the BBC began with the crisis of Monaco. With the outbreak of hostilities in 1939, Radio London broadcasts in Italian coming increased to 4.15 hours in 1943. The editors of Radio London became famous for its timeliness in transmitting information in the world, with its English-style, direct and pragmatic. The transmission played an important role during the war, keeping the population informed on the most salient events of the conflict. The strength of this program was that it was told in an objective manner the war. In Italian Service will impose the charismatic figure of Colonel Harold Stevens - the famous "Good evening, Colonel" - British military officer in Rome, which, thanks to his calm and reasonable comments, conveyed a sense of serenity and hope in the future. Another charismatic figure turned out to Candidus (pseudonym of John Marus). Moreover, the role of Radio London in war becomes crucial in sending special messages, drafted by the High Command for the Allied and partisan units in Italy. The special messages transmitted by Radio London were surrounded by military secret absolutely, usually directed at groups of partisans in the mountains or the city. Or direct to the British missions that were already on the Italian territory. It was still communicated with which signaled the launch of supply with weapons. Or, conveyed the beginning of an attack in another town or canceling it. Also explain how a certain character had to be identified. In short, they were coded messages that only those directly involved could understand. Italian broadcasts of Radio London were open from the first notes of Beethoven's 5th Symphony (codifying it is said - marked the second alphabet Morse - la lettera "V", iniziale di "Victory", sempre ripetuto da W. Churchill). La BBC ha continuato a trasmettere in italiano L'Ora di Londra ogni sera fino al 31 dicembre 1981, quando il programma fu chiuso nonostante le proteste di numerosi ascoltatori. Pare che almeno centomila italiani avessero conservato l'abitudine di ascoltare la BBC fino ad allora.
